TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida A&M Women’s Basketball team dropped their first conference loss of the season as North Carolina A&T handed the Lady Rattlers, a 73-57 defeat here Monday night at the Alfred Lawson Center in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference action.
FAMU (5-11, 2-1 MEAC) had a pair of Lady Rattlers to score in double figures as Jasmine Grice scored a game high 28 points, followed by Kimberly Sparkman with 18. Patrice Collie led the Lady Rattlers on the boards with seven, while Andreya Lacy dished out a team high four assists.
N.C. A&T (10-6, 2-1 MEAC) had two Lady Aggies to record a double-double as JaQuayla Berry scored a team high 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, followed by Tracy King with 14 points and 11 boards for N.C. A&T. Eboni Rose rounded out the cast of Lady Aggies to score in double-figures as she pumped in 17 points on the night.
The Lady Aggies jumped out to an 18-8 lead on a King layup with 13:16 to go in the first. FAMU would then cut the A&T’s lead to 24-17 on a Grice jumper at the 6:15 mark of the half. Berry would hit a field goal at the 5:08 mark to give the Lady Aggies a 27-17 lead. Then both teams would endure a scoring drought as the next basket scored by either team would an Amber Calvin three pointer for the Lady Aggies with 1:18 left in the first, giving A&T a 32-17 lead into the break.
FAMU finished the first half shooting 28.0 percent (7-of-25) from the floor, while A&T shot 37.5 percent (12-of-32).
A&T opened the second half with a 16-7 run as they took a 48-27 lead on an Ariel Bursey free throw with 11:04 to go in the game.
FAMU would cut A&T’s lead to 48-35 on a Grice free throw with 8:51 left in the contest as that would be the closes that the Lady Rattlers would get.
The Lady Rattlers finished the game shooting 34.4 percent (21-of-61), while the Lady Aggies shot 51.8 percent (29-of-56). A&T controlled the boards as they outrebounded FAMU, 42-28.
FAMU will return to action on Saturday, January 19 as they will travel to Savannah, Ga., to take on Savannah State in a 2 p.m. start at Tiger Arena.
